St Louis 16 Patch

I stayed up extra late (for me anyway) last night to finish my St Louis 16 patch quilt top. It started out 5 more blocks to go, so I decided to go ahead and cut the strip sets, then I decided to go ahead and piece the blocks. Then I decided to lay it out, then I figured since I was that far I might as well finish it. So I did. I already know how I am going to quilt it, and what fabric I am going to use for the binding. I just need to figure out a backing.

I love all the different colors mixed together. I used mostly DS Quilts fabrics from Joann's mixed in with some other prints. I didn't stick with a certain color palette either. I really went outside of my comfort zone (to a certain extent) but you can tell I love aqua and blue and red.

The quilt finishes at about 60 by 72 and the blocks come together so quickly. I will definitely be using this pattern again. This quilt really blew up all over the Internet and Instagram. I am a little behind the trend and finished mine a lot later than most everyone else, but that's just how I roll. I am always a little behind.

This is my third completed quilt top in the last month or so and its time for me to really get cracking on the quilting part. I am going to be honest here, I HATE basting. If I could avoid it I would. It would make quilting so much more fun. My plan is to get my Dream On quilt done first, hopefully this weekend, or at least get the backing done and get it basted. Hopefully I will have some pictures of a completed quilt very soon. Then hopefully I will be able to move on to my Scrappy Trip Along quilt. My goal is to have both of those DONE by the end of the month. Then I will aim to finish this quilt and my Modern Maples quilt next month. (That is my tentative plan for now, we will see how that plays out)

Has anyone else made a St Louis 16 Patch quilt? I'd love to see them!

Modern Maples

Not that I needed another project to take up my time, but I guess I did. You know how much I love fall, and I am beyond excited waiting for it get here. The other day I was looking through Instagram and I saw a couple posts about the Modern Maples quilt from Quilt Dads book. Of course, I'd seen it before and loved it, but something about seeing it this time made me fall head over heels in love. Probably because I have fall fever right now. So the other day I went through my stash, pulling out fabrics and pairing them together. I am going for a scrappy, low volume background, similar to my In The Wild Starburst quilt. The Comma Period print in Chalk scraps I had left are making an appearance. 

           

I am going for a fall-ish palette, mostly browns some burgundies and purplish-reds, oranges, golds and yellows. I think for the solid background blocks I am going to use some linen for texture. I've also been pulling fabrics for another quilt I hope to start in a few months. Or I may not. Sometimes I pull fabrics with ideas in my head, excited about what I want to make, and then the excitement is replaced by something else, and those fabrics get turned into something else. We will see. 

                

For now I am super excited about this quilt, and my Dream On quilt. I am hoping to start the quilting this week. I picked up batting over the weekend and I need to figure out how I am going to do the backing. Oh, and my St Louis 16 Patch and Scrappy Trip along. I am trying to find backing and binding for my Scrappy Trip Along quilt. It's hard to find something that works with such a scrappy quilt without competing with it too much. I am pretty sure I am doing a black and white stripe for the binding, but the backing has me stumped.

So I've told you what my favorite season is, what is yours, and why? And what projects are you excited about right now?

Birdie Sling(s)

I started the year out with a lot of goals in mind, and of course there is no way I am going to get to all of them. But I sat down the other day and thought about the things I really want to do before the year is over. So I made a list that I can refer back to in the next few months (and hopefully cross a few things off!) One of the things on the list was Christmas presents. Specifically for my boyfriend's mother and sisters.

I love my boyfriend's family. They are all amazing. And his two sisters are wonderful. His mother is so amazingly sweet. I want to make them something for Christmas, and I think a Birdie Sling is just the ticket. I want to make them all the same bag but in different fabrics. I told my boyfriend to find out their favorite colors, but I have my doubts that he will so I have a feeling that I will end up trusting my gut. Here are my initial fabric selections. I just love the colors from Gypsy Caravan! But I have several other choices on hand in case he DOES find out what colors they all like.

I also have plans to make something for my sister, but she is fairly likely to read my blog and that would spoil the surprise ;)



OH! And I almost forgot to mention, I opened an Etsy shop! You can check it out here! I have my Sidebraid quilt listed for sale and some zipper pouches. I plan on posting a few other things next week too, I'd love for you to check it out!

Remember When I Started a Scrappy Trip?

I've been working on this project on and off for months now. Sometimes I loved and other times I didn't. I was torn on even finishing it. But I decided to put what I had together and leave it at that. I originally had planned on 6 more blocks. 

My cocker spaniel decided he wanted to help while I was laying it out. That delayed things a bit.

But the top is done, and I once again love it. I love it so much that now I am reconsidering those last 6 blocks on the right side that would bring the quilt to roughly 72 by 72.

What do you think?

Getting in The Fall Mood

I started a table runner for my sister last year sometime before fall. I had a charm pack of Full Moon Harvest and cut the charm squares into 2.5 inch squares. I made a table square for our coffee table and a runner for hers. It has been sitting around without the binding for nearly a year. A YEAR!

The weather lately has been very fall like. To the point where I needed to turn on the heat in my car on the way to work the other morning. As crazy as it is for the weather to be this cool in July I am not complaining. I love fall weather. LOVE IT. Fall is my favorite time of the year and I can't wait until it is actually fall. I love going to the fall festivals and of course Halloween! Until then I will have to enjoy the weather, and work on some fall projects!

I used a print I found at Joann Fabrics for the backing. It had all the right colors and felt very fall-ish! The binding was another Joann find, its a mottled red.

I quilted it with straight lines on each side of every seam in a dark red thread. I like the grid pattern it made on the back, making it almost reversible.

I'm so glad I finished this project. I think that 2.5 inch squares are my favorite things in the world. I love plain patchwork with them. I'm not sure I will ever get tired of patchwork. Especially fall themed patchwork!

Goals... And all that jazz

Isn't it great that I've managed to actually use my camera to take pictures of my quilts? I think so. I've gotten so used to taking pics with my iPhone I forgot how much better an actual camera is. That was one of my goals earlier this year and I'm going to try and keep it up. As well as posting more often. 

I have to admit that Instagram has spoiled me. It's just so easy! (You can follow me on Instagram by clicking the little Instagram icon on the left side of my blog by the way!)

I wrote down my goals from the rest of the year about a month ago or so and of course never got around to sharing them here. Maybe if I do it will keep me more accountable, right?

So here it goes:

1) Dream On quilt- The top is done. Finished. I need to piece a backing and get the batting and just do it. I want this quilt finished soon.

2) Log Cabin Quilt- I started a log cabin quilt for my boyfriend at Christmas time. The blocks are done and the top is half assembled. I'd like to at least get the top done, if nothing else but I'd LOVE to have the quilt done to give him at Christmas 

3) Farmer's Wife Quilt- I started work on the setting last weekend. I need to order more background fabric, somehow I didn't order enough. I also need to order fabric for the borders. I want to get this top done by the end of the year.

4) Scrappy Trip Along Quilt- the blocks are done. They need another press before being trimmed up and pieced together into the top. I may get this quilt done before the end of the year, but who knows? It is on the list of possible completions. I do want to get the top done though.

5) St Louis 16 Patch- I have made about 7 or 8 blocks. I'd like to get this quilt top done by the end of the year, to be honest I'd really like to get this quilt done in the next few months but I'm not sure that will be possible.

6) More Super Totes- I'd really like to make my boyfriend's sisters and mom each a Super tote for Christmas. This may be a little ambitious of me, but I am going to try. I told him to be stealthy and find out what their favorite colors are. I may just go with my gut and pick fabrics I think they will like. I am really leaning toward just about any fabrics from Belle by Amy Butler (of which a fat eighth bundle just arrived in my mailbox)

7) Several Pillow Covers- I LOVE making pillows. I've said it before, and will probably say it a million times more, but pillows are my favorite things to make. I started one from a Tapestry mini charm pack last weekend, and plan on finishing it this weekend. I also want to make some for Halloween and for Christmas. I want to get more Tapestry fabrics and make some matching ones. I love the colors in that fabric line. It reminds me so much of fall.

Sorry there aren't any pictures in this post, but I PROMISE to have some of my current works in progress this week coming up, and hopefully some pictures of a finished Tapestry pillow cover.

What are YOUR goals for the rest of the year?

Flower Girl Quilt

I started this quilt for a woman at work. She wanted a quilt that matched the pillow shams on her daughter's bed. The quilt finished a little short of twin sized, but perfect for a kid to cuddle under. This quilt took a long time. The blocks required a lot of pressing at each step to make sure the seams match well, but I am really happy with how it turned out.

Usually I am not a big pink fan (you wouldn't know though, looking at my fabric stash. I've made so many little girl quilts I can't keep track!) but this quilt is just gorgeous. The pinks look great together with the yellows and the greens. I tried to get some fabrics that went with the flowers and butterflies on the pillow shams. I used some Bella Butterfly by Michael Miller and some various pink and yellow dots and florals. I also used a green from Flutter by Riley Blake for the leaves to tie in the butterfly theme.

The pattern is a Thimbleberries pattern, but I modified the size a little and left out the sashing blocks. I quilted it with wavy lines. It seems like everyone is using the wavy line quilting lately, I first saw it on Crazy Mom Quilts blog and although I have a Brother machine I did some testing and figured out the settings for my machine and absolutely love using it. I also used it on my Anna Maria Horner quilt I will post about soon. I love that it makes the quilt really soft and fluffy and its a lot more forgiving than regular straight line quilting. You don't have to worry about the lines being perfectly straight.

I'm not sure I want to do this quilt pattern again, just because of how time consuming it is, but I can't get over how beautiful this quilt turned out. I almost hate to let it go!

Also, I am loving this cooler weather. I can't wait for fall!!